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Elon Musk‘s father has condemned a possible superfight between the Twitter boss and rival tech billionaire Mark Zuckerberg, branding a contest between them ‘a no-win situation’ for his son.
Errol Musk, 77, said: ‘The thing is if this crazy fight goes ahead, if Elon beats this guy, Elon will be called a bully, being so much heavier and taller, while if he loses the humiliation would be total.
‘It’s a no-win situation for Elon. I think Elon has got himself into a difficult situation as a result of high school behavior. They both have,’ he told The Sun.
Errol’s comments echo the sentiment of the Tesla and SpaceX founder’s mother Maye, 75, who has also expressed her distaste at the idea of her son getting into the cage and told Lex Fridman, an AI researcher, martial artist and notable podcaster who recently trained with the Facebook founder not to encourage the pair to fight.
The prospect of a scrap between two of the world’s most famous tech entrepreneurs arose last week when Twitter CEO Musk challenged Zuckerberg to a cage fight in response to speculation Facebook parent company Meta was planning to launch a Twitter rival.
Zuckerberg responded via Instagram accepting the challenge, with the pair now rumoured to be discussing the finer points of potential bout in Las Vegas with Ultimate Fighting Championship President Dana White, who claimed their fight could rake in some $1billion.
The prospect of a scrap between two of the world’s most famous tech entrepreneurs arose last week when Twitter CEO Musk (right) challenged Facebook founder Zuckerberg (left) to a cage fight
Errol Musk, the father of tech billionaire Elon Musk, has warned his son that a fight between him and Mark Zuckerberg is a ‘no-win situation’
Former UFC star-turned promoter and podcaster Chael Sonnen, who retired from the sport in 2019, weighed in on the topic during a recent interview, explaining how the social media empires of both tech titans could bring about unprecedented viewing figures for their fight.
He told the MMA Hour: ‘You could for sure do 10 million-plus [pay-per-view buys].
‘But you could be closer to 20 and 25 [million pay-per-view buys], because what I would predict is both of their companies would start some kind of a digital arm.
‘So all of a sudden, I believe that Twitter would be hosting pay-per-views, and I believe Facebook would, as well. Now you’re talking 25 million views here.
‘That’s insane, what I just said. You could do that if the business shifted and changed a little bit. Sure you could.’
The current record for most pay-per-view buys was set by boxers Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao in 2015 – when 4.6million people tuned into their bout.
Earlier in the week, UFC boss Dana White had to defend his decision to entertain a bout between Musk and Zuckerberg after coming under fire from fight fans.
‘This isn’t a gimmick fight. Gimmick is MMA guys going to boxing and getting beat. We have seen it already and know how it ends,’ White said.
‘This is a fight between two of the most powerful richest guys in the world.
‘Who will win? Who has seen this before? NOBODY.’
Despite the MMA community making it clear they don’t want to see the fight, White remains confident that there is an audience for it.
‘It would break all pay-per-view records,’ White said. ‘These guys would raise, you know, hundreds of millions of dollars for charity and, you know, you don’t have to be a big fight fan to be interested in this fight. Everybody would want to see it.’
Zuckerberg is seen in a recent training video
Mark Zuckerberg competing in a BJJ tournament
Dana White is hoping to play host to Musk vs Zuckerberg and claims they are ‘dead serious’
Rumblings of a potential fight between Musk and Zuckerberg sparked a mad flurry of speculation over what such a bout could look like and a fervent debate over who would come out victorious.
The general consensus online seemed to be fairly even.
Those predicting Musk would win pointed to his larger stature, while those backing Zuckerberg highlighted his keen passion for Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
Now, fight experts have weighed in on the debate.
Colby Covington, an American professional mixed martial artist who currently competes in the welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, emphatically backed Musk to win the potential contest – though his pick was seemingly ideologically motivated, rather than guided by the skill of the combatants.
‘It wouldn’t even be competitive,’ he said. ‘Mark Zuckerberg, he brings beta, soy-boy energy. Elon Musk, he brings alpha energy. He’s a man of the people.
‘He’s looking to restore free speech. He’s looking to fight corruption and collusion at the highest levels of government… He talks the talk and he walks the walk.
‘I don’t think Zuckerberg will ever get in the octagon with him and if he did, I don’t think he’ll be the same person again,’ Covington told Fox News.
Michael Chandler, a UFC lightweight fighter, contested Covington’s prediction.
‘I’ve got Zuckerberg on this one,’ Chandler said. ‘Zuckerberg has been training. Yes he does have one of the lower belts on the BJJ hierarchy but you see him out there.
Colby Covington (left), an American professional mixed martial artist who currently competes in the welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, emphatically backed the Tesla CEO to win the potential contest. Michael Chandler (right), a UFC lightweight fighter, said the Facebook CEO was the favorite thanks to his consistent training
Musk says he has trained in Kyokushin karate, taekwondo, judo, and ‘Brazilian jiu-jitsu briefly’ throughout his life
‘He’s doing boxing, he’s doing kick boxing. And I spoke to Dana White today. He said this fight is real, and this fight is happening. It’s going to be the biggest fight in – not just in UFC history but combat sports history – I think yes, Elon is the bigger guy, but Elon is the older guy.
‘It all depends on who can actually show up on fight night, and put those skills to the test, and Zuckerberg has a lot more skills.
‘It’s a possibility (that Musk could win). Elon’s a bugger dude, but Zuckerberg is actually in there mixing it up with world class fighters, BJJ practitioners, every single day – and he has the age advantage. Elon’s a little bit over the hill, not just for a fighter – so Zuck all the way,’ he said.
A pair of Brazilian mixed martial artists were torn on the competition, with Renato Moicano saying he would ‘bet on Tesla’ (Musk) while his compatriot Gilbert Burns said he would ‘put the house on Zuck’.
Despite the uncertainty of a cage match actually happening, bids are already being placed for a projected winner.
DraftKings’ projected odds stood at 140+ for Musk and -160 for Zuckerberg on Thursday – making the Facebook founder the favorite.
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